As many as 130 dogs need new homes after being taken from a home on Jacksonville’s Westside.
Animal Care and Protective Services transported the Chihuahua mixes out of the home Friday in Lackawanna, bringing them to the Forest Street shelter.
Chief Animal Care Officer Mike Bricker said the dogs are healthy, but the challenge now is finding them new homes. He said not all dogs were sterilized, making it illegal.
People who live near the house where the dogs were taken say they are relieved.
“One hundred and thirty dogs?” That’s a lot,” Eric Smith said. “In one house? It’s a lot. …I mean, you accumulate animals. It’s crazy.
For years, Smith said he smelled and heard dogs across his street and saw dog food delivered for four years.
“And all this time you heard barking and a smell? » asked First Coast News, the Times-Union’s news partner.
“All the time,” Smith said.
Bricker and his team vaccinated the dogs in front of the house on Friday.
He said the owners of the house had rented the property, but the rent had not been paid in recent months and when the owners came to check on their house, they found the dogs inside.
“They’re chubby,” Bricker said of the dogs. “There were some puppies we took in earlier, this guy is a puppy. Yeah, we don’t really think there’s anything major going on between them.
Bricker said he doesn’t think the tenants have been gone long. It is unclear whether they will face charges.
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“There is no legal limit as long as they are taken care of,” Bricker said. “If you have more than five, they need to be sterilized.”
These dogs were not spayed or neutered, Bricker said. With 300 dogs already at their shelter, he said the problem now is finding the Chihuahuas’ homes quickly. Anyone interested in helping can visit Animal Care at 2020 Forest St. or call (904) 630-2489.
See the original First Coast News article here.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Animal Care rescues 130 Chihuahua dogs from home
